Roman 6
We are walking in today: Freedom To Choose !!!! Part 1
Witness liberty throughout the Bible: H1865 dĕrowr--a flowing, free run, liberty
Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
Torah: Leviticus 25:10
Prophets: Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 34:8, 34:15, 34:17; Ezekiel 46:17
Writings:
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Roman 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
New Covenant Liberty: Freedom to Choose
Perhaps the most important, but sublime, message of the entire Bible is that message of the freedom — the liberty — that Messiah Yahushua has procured for his people. Before a man is set at liberty he has no freedom to choose whom he will serve. He is in bondage to, and is the slave of, sin; he has no choice but to serve sin. However, once he is set free, he is free indeed. The Apostle Paul gives us insight into this freedom. Paul had just exhorted the Corinthian Believing ones no longer to continue in sin, but to consider themselves dead to sin, and alive unto the Most High thorough Yahushua. Paul was telling them that now that they have been set free, they have a choice of whom they will serve.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14
This message is the fact that El Elyon, in His mercy, has set men free from the bondage of sin, in order that men may then have the freedom to choose whom they will serve. The remainder of the New Testament message is the Most High’s revelation to man concerning The Most High's purposes for setting men free, and the ultimate destination of our journey as freed men. Along with this is revealed some of the features of this freedom we have under the New Covenant, as well as the boundaries of the redeemed man's new freedom.
Beware!
Prophets: Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 34:8, 34:15, 34:17; Ezekiel 46:17
Writings:
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Roman 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
New Covenant Liberty: Freedom to Choose
Perhaps the most important, but sublime, message of the entire Bible is that message of the freedom — the liberty — that Messiah Yahushua has procured for his people. Before a man is set at liberty he has no freedom to choose whom he will serve. He is in bondage to, and is the slave of, sin; he has no choice but to serve sin. However, once he is set free, he is free indeed. The Apostle Paul gives us insight into this freedom. Paul had just exhorted the Corinthian Believing ones no longer to continue in sin, but to consider themselves dead to sin, and alive unto the Most High thorough Yahushua. Paul was telling them that now that they have been set free, they have a choice of whom they will serve.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14
This message is the fact that El Elyon, in His mercy, has set men free from the bondage of sin, in order that men may then have the freedom to choose whom they will serve. The remainder of the New Testament message is the Most High’s revelation to man concerning The Most High's purposes for setting men free, and the ultimate destination of our journey as freed men. Along with this is revealed some of the features of this freedom we have under the New Covenant, as well as the boundaries of the redeemed man's new freedom.
Beware!
This subject of liberty is, however, one of the most active areas of attack by Satan against the lives of countless saints of the Most High. These attacks are Satan's attempts to deceive The Most High’s people regarding El Elyon’s purposes for, and the boundaries of, the liberty Yahushua has bought for us. Many false teachers have wrested, or twisted and perverted, the words of Paul, so much that what is being taught today as "truth" does not even resemble what was taught by the disciples of Paul's day.
Set Free at Last!
We see within all of Scripture that the liberty of his children is very important to the heart of the Father. Indeed, one of the purposes of the Most High can be seen in El Elyon's commission from the Father:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to... set at liberty them that are bruised... Luke 4:18b
It is near to the Most High’s heart to set His people free, but free for what purpose What does a freed prisoner do after he is set free? Is he free to do as he pleases, since he is now free? Is he now able to go out and break the Law as he sees fit? We are encouraged in many ways to choose those things that serve and please the Most High. We are, however, warned not to return to the bondage we were in before we were free:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)
Bondage Again?
King Zedekiah, released all the Hebrew bond slaves in the city. When the king, and all the princes and the people had heard that every one should set the servants free every seventh year, in accordance with the Word of the Most High, they did so. But afterwards, they had a change of heart, and required that the servants be put back under bondage again: This brought a swift pronouncement of judgment from El Elyon, from which we can glean what El Elyon’s thoughts are about His people going back under bondage.
But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. (Jeremiah 34:11)
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me... I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 34:16-17)
Two Bondages
But, has not the Most High provided a means for slaves that have been set free, to go back voluntarily under bondage of slavery to the master? Let's look at one passage:
If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. (Exodus 21:2, 5-6)
The difference lies in the fact that, in the one case, El Elyon's disfavor and judgment comes when the freed bond servants are caused or compelled to return to bondage; in the other case, the Most High's favor comes when the freed bond servant goes back into voluntary bondage, or servanthood, returning out of the motive of love! This difference is the very ground — the very foundation — of New Testament Truth. Paul made a statement, regarding servants in the natural, in which a hidden spiritual truth is revealed. We may also see shining through this verse the two-step process of one man who is first set free, and then returns to become the voluntary bond servant of Messiah.
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Messiah's servant. (1Corinthians 7:22)
The New Covenant: An Exchange of Yokes
When Yahushua came to earth, He came into a world in which all people were yoked to the bondage of sin and death. Yahushua came to proclaim liberty, or freedom from the power of sin, and from the penalty of sin.
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that TAKE OFF THE YOKE on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. (Hosea 11:4)
TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For MY YOKE is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30)
In all of scripture, the word yoke speaks of bondage. In the above passage it sounds as if Yahushua is advocating a yoke of bondage for the Believing ones, after having first removed the yoke from them! The key phrase here is "... thou shalt not compel him... ." We now can see the contrast of two different motivations of servanthood: the one of compulsion, seen in Leviticus 25:39; the other of love, seen in Exodus 21:2, 5-6.
And if thy brother that dwelled by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: (Leviticus 25:39)
No Compulsion
Perhaps the most surprising feature of the New Covenant is that it is one in which there is no compulsion. We observe that Yahushua does not compel anyone to become a bond servant. He does, however, compel people to come to Him to be set free, and to repent, and then compels them to come in to dine with Him. He then desires that those that come to Him, of their own free will, would enter into the New Covenant with Him; and that because of their love for their Master, they would choose to become bondservants to Him. We may then choose to serve Him, and to please Him, and delight to do His will, or we may choose not to do so. Whatever choice we make, reveals whether we love Him, or do not love Him. However, let us also remember that He has told us:
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13
This is a warning that Yahushua has issued to all that would make that choice to know Him, and to serve Him, and to delight to do His will. After He has set us free from all forms of bondage, we must take heed not to allow ourselves back under any form of bondage. To do so would threaten our relationship with Him, and even jeopardize the very grace that enables us to walk with Him, and to serve Him as our only Master. In order to truly serve Him, however, we must move from the realm of death, to the realm of Life; That is, we must move from the realm of living by the externals of the letter of the Law, to the realm of living by the internals of the Law on the heart.
The Law: External vs. Internal
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (Acts 15:10)
In this passage, Peter is describing how that some of the Believing ones of the Jews were requiring new converts to undergo circumcision, and were commanding them, or compelling them, saying that they must keep the Law of Moses. The decision was made by the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem not to require the circumcision, but to require certain heathen practices to be avoided, and that they not command them to keep the Law of Moses. This appeared to many to be a complete repudiation, by Paul, of the Law of Moses. Paul was even falsely accused of trying to change the customs of Moses, and of "forsaking" the Law of Moses. But what was Paul really teaching? Let us first observe that circumcision is the outward sign, or seal, of the Covenant between the Most High and Abraham, and with Abraham's Seed (See Rom 4:1-25, Gal 3:16). The Jews of Paul's day knew this, yet they were not able to grasp the idea of a new thing — of having an internal circumcision. They were requiring new converts to be circumcised externally, in accordance with their understanding and tradition!
The Jews also knew that obedience to the Law of Moses was not optional. It was their understanding in the natural sense that led them to compel new converts to "obey the Law." But by doing so, Peter explains, they are putting a "yoke" on the neck of the disciples! To both the Jews and the Apostles, this controversy was no small matter!
In both instances, of the matter of Circumcision, and of "compelling" ones obedience to the Law of Moses, it took a revelation from El Elyon to Paul, to reveal the new thing that the Most High was doing. The new thing was that the Most High was moving from the external Law of El Elyon, to one that is internal — as foretold by the Prophet in Jeremiah 31:33. The Law of El Elyon was no longer to be written on stone — but with the Finger of the Most High upon the heart — a heart circumcised by the Master Himself! the Most High has made it all very simple for us to understand. The Old Covenant was a covenant of externals, written on external tables of stone, and having an external circumcision. The New Covenant, however, is a covenant of internals, written on internal tables of the heart, and having an internal circumcision!
Delight is a Mystery
Let us now look further, and let us observe carefully what else Paul states about the Law:
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)
Here Paul is saying that he delights in the Law! He is actually speaking the same words spoken by the psalmist:
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)
So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:25b)
What do we see in the above passage? We see that Paul serves the Law of the Most High!
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" (Hebrews 10:16)
"And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deuteronomy 30:6)
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
The Law on the Heart: the Most High's Purpose
We must sometimes use a little common sense in trying to figure out what El Elyon has in mind. If the Most High says He will write His Law on our hearts, then His purpose must be for us to obey that Law, after having been justified by His grace. Why else would El Elyon write His Law on our hearts — so that we would not obey it?
The Galatians' Problem
In Paul's letter to the Galatians, Paul reveals that those of the Galatian Believers were attempting to teach that circumcision was part of the Most High's requirement for being "justified." They were teaching, and practicing, a mixture of justification by faith and by works, and had even progressed to the point that they were celebrating heathen religious holidays that we see commonly practiced in the congregations today. This mixture of errors by the Galatians resulted in Paul's letter of correction. Note carefully that in the letter to the Galatian Believers, Paul says that it is those that attempt to be justified by the Law that have "fallen from Grace." If we think that we are justified in the sight of El Elyon by our keeping of the Law, or by doing any other good thing, then we are attempting to be justified by that good thing; thus we have fallen from the position of justification by grace, to the position of justification by works. We have "fallen from Grace."
However, if our justification is the shed Blood of Yahushua alone, then Yahushua Himself is our justification, and we are receivers of His Grace. We then have the freedom to choose whether or not to obey Him, and freedom to choose whether to obey His Law that He writes on our hearts. The end result is that some will choose to obey the Most High's law — not in order to become justified, but because they are justified, and because they love El Elyon, and desire to please Him!
The Galatians Opposed The Most High’s Purposes
This problem was one of "antinomianism," which simply means a state of being "without any Law at all," a sort of no-man's-land in between Grace and Works. Antinomian teaching suggested that once a person is set free, he does not need to serve anyone at all! He is free, and will not have anyone telling him what to do; he will not obey any Laws at all. "
Crept in Unawares
There is a concept of Grace being taught today that rejects the concept of walking in Grace — and according to the Law — at the same time, as Paul did and taught. The idea of obedience to the "Old Testament Law" by New Testament Believing ones is rejected by the majority of evangelical teachers today. Obedience to the Law of the Most High is considered today to be the teaching of the "legalistic" denominations, and the realm of cults — the "camp of the enemy." Thus the teachings of Paul have been twisted and distorted beyond recognition by false teachers, prophets, and apostles. It is these false teachers, and their teachings, of which Yahushua, Peter, and Paul said, "Beware!"
We must ask, "Why is there such an outcry today among popular evangelical pastors and teachers, and in other Bible-based groups, against obedience to the Law of the Most High?"
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
A Walk of Love
After a man is set at liberty from the Bondage of Sin, and from sin's strength (the Law), there are only two choices of further action for him to take; there are only two masters. He will either choose to serve the one, in obedience unto Life, or else he will end up choosing to serve the other, in obedience to sin unto death. One choice results in going back into bondage of sin and the world; the other choice is that of choosing to return to the Master, out of love, to take on His yoke of Bondage, and results in liberty and life.
And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. (Psalms 119:45)
We see two things here. First, we see that remaining free is a walk — a walk of obedience to Yahushua, and to the Father. Secondly, we must seek El Elyon, and His precepts. After He has set us free, we who have chosen to become bondservants, and who desire to love Him, must continually seek His precepts, and must obey, must walk in His Law, as He reveals it to us. In doing so, we are to remember that we are not justified by our works — by what we do. We do, however, seek to please the Father, and so we must walk in obedience because of our love of the Father. Our goal, our destination in this walk, is our love of Yahushua, and of the Father, and of the Brethren.
Now the end (the aim, purpose, or goal) of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned..." (1Timothy 1:5)
Here we see that our goal, our destination in this walking in the Commandments, is our love of Yahushua, and love of the Father, and love of the Brethren.
Set Free at Last!
We see within all of Scripture that the liberty of his children is very important to the heart of the Father. Indeed, one of the purposes of the Most High can be seen in El Elyon's commission from the Father:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to... set at liberty them that are bruised... Luke 4:18b
It is near to the Most High’s heart to set His people free, but free for what purpose What does a freed prisoner do after he is set free? Is he free to do as he pleases, since he is now free? Is he now able to go out and break the Law as he sees fit? We are encouraged in many ways to choose those things that serve and please the Most High. We are, however, warned not to return to the bondage we were in before we were free:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)
Bondage Again?
King Zedekiah, released all the Hebrew bond slaves in the city. When the king, and all the princes and the people had heard that every one should set the servants free every seventh year, in accordance with the Word of the Most High, they did so. But afterwards, they had a change of heart, and required that the servants be put back under bondage again: This brought a swift pronouncement of judgment from El Elyon, from which we can glean what El Elyon’s thoughts are about His people going back under bondage.
But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. (Jeremiah 34:11)
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me... I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 34:16-17)
Two Bondages
But, has not the Most High provided a means for slaves that have been set free, to go back voluntarily under bondage of slavery to the master? Let's look at one passage:
If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. (Exodus 21:2, 5-6)
The difference lies in the fact that, in the one case, El Elyon's disfavor and judgment comes when the freed bond servants are caused or compelled to return to bondage; in the other case, the Most High's favor comes when the freed bond servant goes back into voluntary bondage, or servanthood, returning out of the motive of love! This difference is the very ground — the very foundation — of New Testament Truth. Paul made a statement, regarding servants in the natural, in which a hidden spiritual truth is revealed. We may also see shining through this verse the two-step process of one man who is first set free, and then returns to become the voluntary bond servant of Messiah.
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Messiah's servant. (1Corinthians 7:22)
The New Covenant: An Exchange of Yokes
When Yahushua came to earth, He came into a world in which all people were yoked to the bondage of sin and death. Yahushua came to proclaim liberty, or freedom from the power of sin, and from the penalty of sin.
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that TAKE OFF THE YOKE on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. (Hosea 11:4)
TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For MY YOKE is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30)
In all of scripture, the word yoke speaks of bondage. In the above passage it sounds as if Yahushua is advocating a yoke of bondage for the Believing ones, after having first removed the yoke from them! The key phrase here is "... thou shalt not compel him... ." We now can see the contrast of two different motivations of servanthood: the one of compulsion, seen in Leviticus 25:39; the other of love, seen in Exodus 21:2, 5-6.
And if thy brother that dwelled by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: (Leviticus 25:39)
No Compulsion
Perhaps the most surprising feature of the New Covenant is that it is one in which there is no compulsion. We observe that Yahushua does not compel anyone to become a bond servant. He does, however, compel people to come to Him to be set free, and to repent, and then compels them to come in to dine with Him. He then desires that those that come to Him, of their own free will, would enter into the New Covenant with Him; and that because of their love for their Master, they would choose to become bondservants to Him. We may then choose to serve Him, and to please Him, and delight to do His will, or we may choose not to do so. Whatever choice we make, reveals whether we love Him, or do not love Him. However, let us also remember that He has told us:
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13
This is a warning that Yahushua has issued to all that would make that choice to know Him, and to serve Him, and to delight to do His will. After He has set us free from all forms of bondage, we must take heed not to allow ourselves back under any form of bondage. To do so would threaten our relationship with Him, and even jeopardize the very grace that enables us to walk with Him, and to serve Him as our only Master. In order to truly serve Him, however, we must move from the realm of death, to the realm of Life; That is, we must move from the realm of living by the externals of the letter of the Law, to the realm of living by the internals of the Law on the heart.
The Law: External vs. Internal
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (Acts 15:10)
In this passage, Peter is describing how that some of the Believing ones of the Jews were requiring new converts to undergo circumcision, and were commanding them, or compelling them, saying that they must keep the Law of Moses. The decision was made by the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem not to require the circumcision, but to require certain heathen practices to be avoided, and that they not command them to keep the Law of Moses. This appeared to many to be a complete repudiation, by Paul, of the Law of Moses. Paul was even falsely accused of trying to change the customs of Moses, and of "forsaking" the Law of Moses. But what was Paul really teaching? Let us first observe that circumcision is the outward sign, or seal, of the Covenant between the Most High and Abraham, and with Abraham's Seed (See Rom 4:1-25, Gal 3:16). The Jews of Paul's day knew this, yet they were not able to grasp the idea of a new thing — of having an internal circumcision. They were requiring new converts to be circumcised externally, in accordance with their understanding and tradition!
The Jews also knew that obedience to the Law of Moses was not optional. It was their understanding in the natural sense that led them to compel new converts to "obey the Law." But by doing so, Peter explains, they are putting a "yoke" on the neck of the disciples! To both the Jews and the Apostles, this controversy was no small matter!
In both instances, of the matter of Circumcision, and of "compelling" ones obedience to the Law of Moses, it took a revelation from El Elyon to Paul, to reveal the new thing that the Most High was doing. The new thing was that the Most High was moving from the external Law of El Elyon, to one that is internal — as foretold by the Prophet in Jeremiah 31:33. The Law of El Elyon was no longer to be written on stone — but with the Finger of the Most High upon the heart — a heart circumcised by the Master Himself! the Most High has made it all very simple for us to understand. The Old Covenant was a covenant of externals, written on external tables of stone, and having an external circumcision. The New Covenant, however, is a covenant of internals, written on internal tables of the heart, and having an internal circumcision!
Delight is a Mystery
Let us now look further, and let us observe carefully what else Paul states about the Law:
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)
Here Paul is saying that he delights in the Law! He is actually speaking the same words spoken by the psalmist:
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)
So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:25b)
What do we see in the above passage? We see that Paul serves the Law of the Most High!
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" (Hebrews 10:16)
"And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deuteronomy 30:6)
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
The Law on the Heart: the Most High's Purpose
We must sometimes use a little common sense in trying to figure out what El Elyon has in mind. If the Most High says He will write His Law on our hearts, then His purpose must be for us to obey that Law, after having been justified by His grace. Why else would El Elyon write His Law on our hearts — so that we would not obey it?
The Galatians' Problem
In Paul's letter to the Galatians, Paul reveals that those of the Galatian Believers were attempting to teach that circumcision was part of the Most High's requirement for being "justified." They were teaching, and practicing, a mixture of justification by faith and by works, and had even progressed to the point that they were celebrating heathen religious holidays that we see commonly practiced in the congregations today. This mixture of errors by the Galatians resulted in Paul's letter of correction. Note carefully that in the letter to the Galatian Believers, Paul says that it is those that attempt to be justified by the Law that have "fallen from Grace." If we think that we are justified in the sight of El Elyon by our keeping of the Law, or by doing any other good thing, then we are attempting to be justified by that good thing; thus we have fallen from the position of justification by grace, to the position of justification by works. We have "fallen from Grace."
However, if our justification is the shed Blood of Yahushua alone, then Yahushua Himself is our justification, and we are receivers of His Grace. We then have the freedom to choose whether or not to obey Him, and freedom to choose whether to obey His Law that He writes on our hearts. The end result is that some will choose to obey the Most High's law — not in order to become justified, but because they are justified, and because they love El Elyon, and desire to please Him!
The Galatians Opposed The Most High’s Purposes
This problem was one of "antinomianism," which simply means a state of being "without any Law at all," a sort of no-man's-land in between Grace and Works. Antinomian teaching suggested that once a person is set free, he does not need to serve anyone at all! He is free, and will not have anyone telling him what to do; he will not obey any Laws at all. "
Crept in Unawares
There is a concept of Grace being taught today that rejects the concept of walking in Grace — and according to the Law — at the same time, as Paul did and taught. The idea of obedience to the "Old Testament Law" by New Testament Believing ones is rejected by the majority of evangelical teachers today. Obedience to the Law of the Most High is considered today to be the teaching of the "legalistic" denominations, and the realm of cults — the "camp of the enemy." Thus the teachings of Paul have been twisted and distorted beyond recognition by false teachers, prophets, and apostles. It is these false teachers, and their teachings, of which Yahushua, Peter, and Paul said, "Beware!"
We must ask, "Why is there such an outcry today among popular evangelical pastors and teachers, and in other Bible-based groups, against obedience to the Law of the Most High?"
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
A Walk of Love
After a man is set at liberty from the Bondage of Sin, and from sin's strength (the Law), there are only two choices of further action for him to take; there are only two masters. He will either choose to serve the one, in obedience unto Life, or else he will end up choosing to serve the other, in obedience to sin unto death. One choice results in going back into bondage of sin and the world; the other choice is that of choosing to return to the Master, out of love, to take on His yoke of Bondage, and results in liberty and life.
And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. (Psalms 119:45)
We see two things here. First, we see that remaining free is a walk — a walk of obedience to Yahushua, and to the Father. Secondly, we must seek El Elyon, and His precepts. After He has set us free, we who have chosen to become bondservants, and who desire to love Him, must continually seek His precepts, and must obey, must walk in His Law, as He reveals it to us. In doing so, we are to remember that we are not justified by our works — by what we do. We do, however, seek to please the Father, and so we must walk in obedience because of our love of the Father. Our goal, our destination in this walk, is our love of Yahushua, and of the Father, and of the Brethren.
Now the end (the aim, purpose, or goal) of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned..." (1Timothy 1:5)
Here we see that our goal, our destination in this walking in the Commandments, is our love of Yahushua, and love of the Father, and love of the Brethren.
Shema Selah, for we are free to choose and yet do not fully see how our choices are connected to the results we see in our lives! Facebook LIVE video
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